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Speechless Wed.

Food for the Moment

Hey all,

Just thought I would send a lil’ note as a kind of “food for thought”

Food for the moment:

“It is the LORD your God you must follow, and Him you must revere. Keep His commands and obey Him; serve Him and hold fast to Him.” – Deuteronomy 13:4

When you look at this scripture, what comes to mind? For myself, it really hit home with the last part, holding fast to Him. How do we do that today? What does it look like? Can our schedule even fit that, especially when we have work, school, church, families, friends, dinners, etc…. Our life can become so bogged down with all these things. And yes, we can even do church without holding fast to God (but that is whole other area to dive into, maybe for another day…).

Back to the holding; so how can we do this on a daily basis today? I know my day, weeks and months can be pretty full, and I often lose site of my Lord, as if He grows strangely dim and the world outshines… This is not like the old hymn encourages us with: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace” (“Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”, Helen H. Lemmel, 1922). It is even in the midst of our craziness and filled days that we need to keep our eyes on Him, and hold fast to Him.

What does “hold fast” mean? According to the awesome online Dictionary/Thesaurus it means:

Verb

1.

hold fast - stick to firmly; "Will this wallpaper adhere to the wall?" bind, bond, stick to, stick, adhere bind - form a chemical bond with; "The hydrogen binds the oxygen" cling, cohere, adhere, cleave, stick - come or be in close contact with; stick or hold together and resist separation; "The dress clings to her body"; "The label stuck to the box"; "The sushi rice grains cohere" attach - become attached; "The spider's thread attached to the window sill"

So, a question to ask ourselves is, “am I bonded with my Lord, is there some supernatural superglue in my relationship with God, or am I just using some masking tape here ant here?” Trust me, masking tape does not hold things together well, or for long periods of time (depending on what you are trying to bring together, it may not work at all). Even a little rain, humid day can cause the tape to just fall off. So, where are we in our relationship with God; are we holding fast, or just hanging by a thin thread.

Some things we can all try this week is taking time to talk with Him, whether in prayer, or just talking with Him, really… You don’t have to drop to your knees and cry aloud or say a complicated prayer, just at your desk, while driving, talk to Him. Another is reading His Word, whether with your Bible, or online at www.biblegateway.com, or if you can’t or don’t have physical access, try putting a scripture or two on a sticky note in your wallet/purse/pocket. At least with these options, you can begin to really hold fast to Him, talking to Him and listening to Him and really just seeking Him daily.

Holding fast can seem pretty hard to do when we have trusted others and even ourselves to take care of this and that in our lives. As this verse says, He is the one we are to be looking to, for all things, and it is Him we are to Hold Fast to, always.

I hope this encourages you to begin looking to Him on a daily basis, and not just when you feel you have exhausted your own avenues, no matter what the situation.

Sincerely,

JOE SALMOIRAGHI